Christians in war

[Marnie]

I don't think people have exhausted all means of peaceful attempts together in any way.

elkie, I respect your views and look forward to the world where they will prevail. Until then, however, we live in this one, full of penny dictators and kooks with itchy trigger fingers who cannot be reasoned with. War, though, should always be the last resort; I think we would all agree on that.

[His Ambassador]

Does anybody know how a Christian can justify going to war? Doesen't it contradict Jesus' teachings? Thank you.

There is no Scripture in which Jesus says we must not go to war. Today's military is an all voluntary service. But if there was a draft the Bible says "obey the laws of the land" and "render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's". The U.S. Military makes provisions for those who do not want to carry a weapon to serve in other areas. Those serving in the current war deserve our respect and support. I am a veteran of the Korean conflict and take acception to your question.

[Openly Curious]

When somebody is pointing a gun in my direction, I dont have to for philosphical questions. In the Kingdom...I'll be ready to turn the other cheek. But if you must, here are the principles of the "Just War":

A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.

A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate.

A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause (although the justice of the cause is not sufficient). Further, a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions: the only permissible objective of a just war is to redress the injury.

A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.

The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.

The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered.

The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.

You may also go here for a good treatment of the subject.

Thanks Marnie,

For you saved me the time in having to respond to this blessings

OC

[Frisbinator]

Does anybody know how a Christian can justify going to war? Doesen't it contradict Jesus' teachings? Thank you.

No, It does not. Jesus Said his kingdom was not of this earth. If it where, his followers would fight. Read Revelation, when Jesus returns, he comes as a Great Warrior.

Thank you for your input everyone.

Where in Revelation does it describe Jesus as being a great warrior?

[Marnie]

Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Ps. 24:8

In Rev. at the Second Advent, Christ comes back with the sword. Check the references yourself. There are numerous references to either G-d or Christ as doing battle.

[buckthesystem]

When somebody is pointing a gun in my direction, I dont have to for philosphical questions. In the Kingdom...I'll be ready to turn the other cheek. But if you must, here are the principles of the "Just War":

A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.

A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate.

A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause (although the justice of the cause is not sufficient). Further, a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions: the only permissible objective of a just war is to redress the injury.

A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.

The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.

The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered.

The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.

You may also go here for a good treatment of the subject.

Good post, but a few questions come to mind: Quote: "A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority". Well, what is a "legitimate authority"? This seems to me to be a matter of opinion.

And: "self defence against armed attack is not always considered to be a just cause". Really? So what are you supposed to do against an armed attack? Just surrender and get killed or injured?

And: For the rest of these "rules", this makes just about all the wars fought since the beginning of the 20th century to be illegitimate!

Only in the "organised battles" of old were civilians not targeted in war. In all the others, they have been.

[Guest lnj]

Does anybody know how a Christian can justify going to war? Doesen't it contradict Jesus' teachings? Thank you.

We are to fight against the forces of evil. satan operates and moves peoples against peoples. Nation against nation.Isn't racism and intolerance the best way to wage war against God's creation, by making people fight one another? When we are dealing with satan in the disguise of political leaders, there is a call to fight against it. Look at the Old Testament. There is a thing called Righteous anger. LNJ

[Guest lnj]

Does anybody know how a Christian can justify going to war? Doesen't it contradict Jesus' teachings? Thank you.

We are to fight against the forces of evil. satan operates and moves peoples against peoples. Nation against nation.Isn't racism and intolerance the best way to wage war against God's creation, by making people fight one another? When we are dealing with satan in the disguise of political leaders, there is a call to fight against it. Look at the Old Testament. There is a thing called Righteous anger. LNJ

If you will read your Old Testament, you will find that God is the one who caused one army to raise up against another to bring about his purposes. How do you think the Jewish people wound up in Canaan in the first place?

That is why I said look at the Old Testament. God allowed tribes to be wiped off the face of the earth because evil had to be eradicated. Satan is behind this evil. LNJ

[Frisbinator]

Right, of course I realize that God commands bloodshed in the old testament, but didn't all that change with Jesus?

[Guest lnj]

Does anybody know how a Christian can justify going to war? Doesen't it contradict Jesus' teachings? Thank you.

We are to fight against the forces of evil. satan operates and moves peoples against peoples. Nation against nation.Isn't racism and intolerance the best way to wage war against God's creation, by making people fight one another? When we are dealing with satan in the disguise of political leaders, there is a call to fight against it. Look at the Old Testament. There is a thing called Righteous anger. LNJ

If you will read your Old Testament, you will find that God is the one who caused one army to raise up against another to bring about his purposes. How do you think the Jewish people wound up in Canaan in the first place?

Yes, that's true. The reason He caused them to rise up, was because of the evil. That's the whole point of my original reply. My answer is I don't have a problem with Christians in war who are defending good. But sadly as we have seen throughout history, what 'good' stands for is quite different from person to person, country to country. LNJ